Dead Living (33 page)

Richardson looked at him.
“You killed
every
walker?”

“Well, you guys killed a few. And I'm sure
Sam did. But yeah, I finished the rest of them off.”

“How?” Larry asked.

Amanda stood near the front of the group in
between Derek and Nikki.

“Well, the walkers like Aaron, right?” she
said.

Everyone ignored Amanda. The only one who
gave her a look was Sam. Aaron locked eyes with Derek and Nikki,
and they could read his face. Nikki leaned down to tell Amanda to
keep his secret.

Richardson gestured to the half-open gate off
in the distance. “Who was watching the gate?” he demanded. “How did
this happen?”

Aaron felt a heavy weight on his shoulders.
He knew what happened.

While he was escorting survivors outside, and
killing walkers, he recognized where some of them came from.

He motioned for Richardson to follow him.
Most everyone stayed back to help Carrie. They ran inside to fetch
drugs and James' tools. Carrie would be fine.

Richardson, Sam, most of the children, and a
few others followed Aaron across the field to the Pit.

Richardson let out a breath when he saw a
corner of the fence covering the Pit peeled back. They heard moans
as they approached, but not as many as they should have. Aaron was
horrified, but not surprised.

Only five walkers were left in the Pit, just
enough to make a body ladder.

“Did someone set them free?” Richardson
asked.

Aaron had secured the fence after climbing
out the night before, but it didn't matter. The walker that could
think watched him, copied his actions.

It's all my fault.

“No,” he said. “They climbed out on their
own.”

Richardson wiped a tear from his eye. He
paced a moment, then pulled his gun and killed the five remaining
walkers. The children jumped.

Larry jogged across the field.

“We just did a count,” he said. “There's
walkers all over the school, but it looks like only ten are people
we know.”

Richardson lowered his head for a moment.
“This is a terrible day, and this is awful news. But it could have
been worse. We all worked together, and we survived. Losing ten of
us, we'll find a way to get past it.”

Larry frowned.
“
Eleven
of
us.”

He pointed at Aaron's arm. Aaron had tried to
wipe the blood off as much as possible, but now the wound was
noticeable. There was a tiny amount of blood on his arm, leading to
the bite wound, which was red and swollen.

“Ah, shit,” Richardson muttered, and turned
his back to the group.

Everyone was silent. Sam couldn't say
anything. She saw the wound on Aaron's arm, and instinctively
backed away. She immediately felt guilty for doing so.

Nikki wiped tears from her eyes. Derek put an
arm around her shoulders. Amanda was confused. She looked up at her
new family.

“Does this mean Aaron will turn into a
monster?”

Richardson turned back around and stared at
the gun in his hands.

“Get the kids out of here,” he whispered.

The group slowly walked away. Amanda cried
loudly, sobbing and calling Aaron's name. Derek had to pick her up
and carry her away. The only two who stayed behind were Sam and
Richardson.

Richardson had never felt so defeated. To
lose any of their number was heartbreaking, but to lose the person
he hoped would take his place was overwhelming.

Sam could see the pain in Aaron's eyes. He
kept staring at his arm, then looked around at the place he now
called home.

She said nothing, just kept a close eye on
him.

“How do you want to do this?” Richardson
asked. “I can shoot you, or give you the gun. Or do you feel more
comfortable with Samantha?”

“I've only killed something with a gun once
in my life. That was enough for me.”

“Aaron, look-”

“I'll just leave.”

“You
want
to become one of those
things?”

“Of course I don't. But I don't want a bullet
in the head either. I'll be dead in an hour, maybe two. I'll leave
right now.”

“I'm so sorry, Aaron. You are one of the best
bright spots to hit this place in a long time.”

Richardson looked at Sam. He expected her to
say something, but she was quiet. Aaron stepped forward to give her
a hug that she barely returned.

“I'll miss you,” he whispered in her ear. He
looked back at Richardson. “When you sweep the school, make sure
you find that walker wearing sweatpants. I didn't see it in there.
Maybe someone else killed it. But make sure you find it.”

He turned and walked away. He waved farewell
at the people he passed, and some of them broke down and cried.
Even Carrie forced James to help carry her so she could get a hug
goodbye.

“Sam, I know you're hurting,” Richardson
said. “But don't you even want to say goodbye?”

She said nothing. She looked at Richardson,
then back at Aaron as he left through the front gate and walked
down Honeyton Road.

“Something's not right,” she finally
said.

He laughed, but it had an
angry edge to it. “Tell me anything about this damn world
that
is
right.”

*****

Sam ran down Honeyton Road. She headed in the
direction she saw Aaron walking. It was quiet on the road, away
from the school. She heard birds flying overhead, but no
walkers.

She ran nearly the length of the entire road.
She knew if she went just four or five more houses, she would start
running into walkers. She had no way of knowing where Aaron went.
He could be long gone, in the woods behind the houses, for all she
knew. She wanted to call his name, but knew any sound could
possibly bring corpses down on top of her. There was always the
possibility there were stray walkers even in the houses on Honeyton
Road.

She heard a door slam, just to her left.

She turned to see Aaron leaving an abandoned
house. He set his bow and quiver down and sat on the front step. He
had an old bottle of whiskey he'd taken from the house.

Sam slowly walked up to him. He noticed her
as he unscrewed the top, and gave her a small smile.

“My father said they used to do this back in
the old west,” he said. He poured the liquor on his wound, and
winced in pain. “He didn't tell me it would hurt like hell.”

She put her hands on her hips and stood in
front of him. “You're not acting like someone with a death
sentence.”

He thought the setting would be different,
but it was time to be honest.

Finally, the truth.

“I've been bit so many times, I've lost
count. All by accident, though. You can't get in between a dog and
food.”

“And you won't turn?”

“Nope.” He held up his arm. “This doesn't
really feel good, but it'll heal, and I'll be fine.”

She nodded, not exactly the reaction he
expected.

“You control the corpses, don't you? Or
something like that?”

Aaron sighed. He should have known it was
only a matter of time before Sam suspected his secret.

“Or something,” he said. He patted the step
next to him. “Sit down.”

She did so, and gave him her undivided
attention. She looked into his eyes, the same eyes she stared at
while he was deciding which move to make in checkers.

“I don't control them,” he explained. “They
just ignore me. They see me, they know I'm there, but they don't
attack me. They never have.”

She put a hand on his knee. “How?”

He shrugged. “I don't really know. I have
guesses, but there's not exactly a lab or something I can get
checked out at.”

“What are your guesses?”

He lowered his head. He was about to share
details of his life he'd never shared with anyone.

She saw how hard this was for him. She put a
hand on his shoulder and squeezed gently. He put a hand on top of
hers.

“My father told me I was born right when this
all started happening. They hadn't even cut the umbilical cord yet
when my mother died. Maybe that changed me somehow.”

“What's your other guesses?”

“I might be a sign of how everyone will be.
I've read it in history books. Life can change, depending on the
environment. Maybe one day, walkers will ignore everyone.”

Aaron was quiet while Sam took everything
in.

He was terrified as he waited for her. The
truth was he wasn't a courageous corpse killer. He had an easier
life than most. He didn't have to fight for survival. He wasn't
strong and brave, like Sam.

“Okay,” she said. “This means you don't have
to leave. We can go back, right now.”

He shook his head. “No.”

“Why not?”

“How do you think people will react? They'll
be afraid of me. They'll hate me.”

“What do you mean?”

“I'm different, Sam.” He looked her up and
down. “In the old world, because of your skin color, people would
have thought you were a terrorist. Imagine what they'll think when
they find out about me.”

“What's a terrorist?”

“A bad person. They used to kill people.”

“What's that got to do with skin color?”

“Exactly. People hate for the strangest
reasons.”

“No one will hate you. Don't you see? You're
the best thing that ever happened to that place.”

Her words were flattering, but he was just
too scared. Sharing his secret with Sam was one thing. Sharing it
with all of Lexington was something else. He would miss everyone,
especially Nikki, Derek, and Amanda. But he wasn't ready to expose
himself.

“I might go back to Baltimore,” he said.
“Start over again there.”

“You were just gonna leave me behind?”

He was surprised. “No. I was gonna stay in
one of these houses until nightfall, then sneak back into the
library and get some things, my pictures. I would have stopped by
your room.”

Sam stood up and paced in front of him. Her
thoughts were going in different directions. She knew for a while
that Aaron was hiding something, but she didn't imagine at all he
was immune to walkers in every way. She didn't agree with Aaron's
idea of people hating him, but that was something she'd work on
over time.

There was one thing she was absolutely sure
of.

“Okay. We'll stay here today. When the sun
falls, we'll sneak back, get some stuff, say goodbye to the kids.
Maybe we'll steal a truck. They've got six now, anyway.”

Aaron stood with her. “We?”

“Yeah. We. I'm going with you.”

“You are?”

She wouldn't stop pacing. “So much shit going
on, almost too much. Okay, let's see-”

She stopped for a second to collect her
thoughts, then paced again.

“Me and you,” she said. “I can't believe
we're doing this here. How do I say this?”

He smiled. “Richardson thinks me and you are
in love.”

She stopped. “Whoa, hold on there. Let's not
go throwing big words around. Love, no. It's just that I can't live
without you. I need you.”

Aaron laughed. “My father would probably call
that love.”

He took another step toward her and grabbed
her by the arm to hold her still. She loved his closeness, and was
afraid at the same time. Aaron could see it. She didn't pull away
from him.

Sam stuttered. Aaron tried to hold in
laughter. Sam, always in control of every situation, couldn't get
her words out.

“I, when I thought you were dead, I fell
apart,” she said. She put a hand gently on his cheek. “I can't go
through that again.”

He smiled and looked in her eyes. He put a
hand on the back of her neck. Her hair was a mess, her clothes
torn. Her sports bra and slim stomach were caked in dried blood.
She had the beginning of a black eye forming.

She was still the most beautiful woman Aaron
had ever seen.

“How do you feel about me?” she asked
carefully.

He leaned in and kissed her gently. It had
been years since either one of them kissed another person. Aaron
pulled her to him and wrapped his arms around her waist. She let
out a satisfied sigh and pressed her body to him. The walkers, the
dead world, everything else faded away.

They didn't know how much time passed. Aaron
finally pulled away, but only by an inch. He rested his forehead
against hers as they both caught their breath. Sam let her hands
float up inside his shirt and gripped his back.

“Since you won't say it, I will,” he said.
“I'm in love with you.”

She squeezed him hard and kissed him again.
She cared for him so much, and now struggled with her passion. She
didn't want to come on too strong. Her entire body also ached.

“I love you too,” she said with a smile.
“Happy now?”

“Yes, I am.”

Aaron noticed the blood dripping from her
shoulder. He took a step back and looked at his arm. They were both
beat up and bruised.

“We're quite a pair, aren't we?”

She smiled and held his hand. “Yeah, we
are.”

*****

Aaron wanted nothing more than to kiss Sam
for the rest of the day, but there were things they had to do. He
led her to the river just behind the houses, the same river they
followed returning to Lexington from Baltimore. He left Sam behind
to wash up while he searched the nearby houses.

The houses had been picked
clean long ago, but he did manage to find some useful items. He
found a relatively clean sheet they could use as a towel, some
shorts and shirts, and an old brush. He went back to the river and
was worried when he didn't see Sam. Then he noticed her, waist deep
in the river. Her clothes were hung on a nearby tree branch,
all
of them.

She took a complete dip in the water for a
brief moment, and came up shivering. Her back was to him, but he
still couldn't keep his eyes off her.